


And Then They Knew

by lollyflop



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-08 19:19:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11088231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lollyflop/pseuds/lollyflop
Summary: Have you ever wondered how the villagers fell for one another? A collection of ficlets telling the stories of the moment they knew.





	1. Clint and Emily

**Author's Note:**

> I intend to plug away at this until I cover all of the actual relationships in the valley and all the apparent crushes. There may be a few surprise romances in here, too...

He was not a flashy man.  
He would be the first to tell you that, if it weren't readily apparent from his worn leather smelter's smock or his calloused hands with their unkempt nails and makeshift bandages. He did his own haircuts, sort-of darned his own socks and never did anything to draw attention to himself.  
So that's why the idea came as a huge surprise to him. It was just the sort of thing he would never do, yet a whim that was just too strong to resist. If Leah had suggested it, he would've laid down and worshipped her artistic genius, but from him? He was just baffled.  
When he cracked open the geode, he actually stopped in his tracks for a full five minutes just to admire it. When all the excess stone was chipped away, it was a tiny thing, no bigger than a five goldpiece. But the edges and points were beautiful, catching the light from his furnace in the most remarkable way. And the colour! So deep, and just the shade that made his heart titter.  
Something in his mind clicked when he saw that geode. He grabbed a copper bar and set right to work, fashioning a setting though he had never attempted it before. When he was finished, he affixed it to himself and stood in the mirror for another five whole minutes, just staring. He had no idea what in his brain had managed to snap to suggest making it, but his smock now bore a beautiful adornment: a sparkling gem for the clip that affixed the strap around the back of his neck. He felt strange wearing a jewel where he once saw Caroline wearing a pretty brooch, but the stone was simply too incredible not to keep with him.  
When he stepped into the saloon, he half expected the entire joint to turn and gasp. Instead, Gus barely glanced up from the register as he waved.  
Clint settled into his usual spot, feeling a little flushed. He wasn't sure whether it was a let-down or a relief that nobody had made a big deal of his bauble. He nearly reached to remove it--to tuck it into his pocket, never to see the light of day again--when she came by.  
"An amethyst!"  
Clint's eyes snapped up. Her face was luminous with delight and curiosity, her hands clasped in front of her. "It's my favourite! May I?"  
He felt hazy and delirious, confused about her meaning, but he nodded anyway. She reached out with her right hand, stroking the gem. Her fingertips put the barest pressure on his chest, and his heart raced.  
He had never noticed her eyes before. This fact made him feel very stupid, as if he had never noticed that the sky was blue or that the luau happened in summer. Her eyes looked like a treasure trove: amethysts and rubies, fire opals and obsidian, a thunder egg and neptunite. His handiwork for the day suddenly felt like a silly trinket, its only value in seeing the light dance in those two beautiful pools of colour.  
Her pink lips were parted, frozen in a delighted gasp. He wanted to cover them with his kiss, he wanted to shower her with bouquets, he wanted to write love letters to her every single day until she begged him to be her husband.  
But Clint was not a flashy man.  
She leaned back on her heels, taking with her the magic of the moment. "Well," she sighed, tucking a strand of blue hair behind her ear. "What can I get you tonight?"


	2. Robin and Demetrius

When Lewis had suggested that she rent out her relatively unused kitchen to the stranger in town, every bone in her body told her to say no. But a meteorite had just pummeled a gaping hole in her perfectly crafted roof, and money was tight for a single mother starting her own business. She had met him begrudgingly at the Stardrop Saloon. In spite of all of her trepidation, he had charmed her with his warm smile, his incomprehensible science lingo and by sharing his dinner, a warm mess of green beans cooked in a pot of stock that had been delicious, and even a bit mysterious. He sealed the deal when he suggested they go for a walk to Alex's ice cream stand–-his treat.  
But having a scientist in her house for several hours a day was a bit trying. The strange smells from his makeshift laboratory reminded her of oil of garlic and hot horseradish. He liked his space to be cleaner than clean enough to eat off of, which meant she was more or less banished from the house when she did her carpentry work, lest she spread wood shavings and sawdust everywhere.  
And Sebby didn't make it any easier. The curious tot wanted nothing more than to go in there and wreck up the glistening beakers and colourful test tubes of stinky, steamy slime. Demetrius was forever pushing him out the door with an impatient frown. The boy became petulant, throwing tantrums and crying at the top of his lungs until Robin whisked him away to sit by the river or north to watch trains pass by.  
So by Summer 20th, Robin was quite close to tearing her hair out when Demetrius threw open the door and groaned, “I can’t take it anymore!”  
Robin just stared at him, mouth agape. So far, he had not been prone to outbursts--or really, noise of any kind.  
“It’s so hot in there, I just dripped sweat into one of my samples!” He sighed, flopping down onto one of the chairs in Robin’s lobby area. “We really must get out of here!”  
“I can’t just close up shop early…”  
“Of course you can. That’s what being an entrepreneur is all about: well-planned recklessness!" He smiled, gathering himself up. He asked, “Who can watch Sebastian?”  
With a phone call, she had arranged to drop him off with Caroline. Demetrius held out his hand. “Let’s treat you to a day off, shall we?”  
First, he took her to dinner at the Stardrop. She ordered the spaghetti, he had a salad with rice pudding. He invited her to dance, and she found herself accepting. Next, they took a walk through Cindersap Forest, where he plucked a peach right out of a tree for her to enjoy. He pointed out insects and minerals, explaining their ecological benefits. And to Robin’s surprise, she wasn’t bored at all!  
Slowly, they meandered northward to cut through the old farmer’s ranch. He had gotten older in recent years, so all of his livestock had been sold off and aside from some hay Marnie tended, it was mostly overgrown with weeds.  
Under the cover of night, they tiptoed across the field to his aging greenhouse. Robin pushed the door open, cringing as it creaked. Demetrius ducked, folding his lanky frame to slip inside, then rewarded Robin with an impressed gasp at the specimens within. She twisted herself inside, closing the door and taking a seat on a potting bench.  
His long fingers brushed along the leaves of a plant as he rattled off the scientific name and a string of facts, but Robin didn't follow a word of it. Moonlight was pouring in through the broken glass ceiling, touching the edges of everything with blue and silver. She watched in wonder as he moved among the plants, stroking leaves, smelling blooms and carefully lifting vines to inspect the vegetables.  
"Did you hear me?"  
She shook her head, trying to clear it. "Sorry, what?"  
He stepped around a row of grapevines to come closer to her, his smile warm but his eyelids heavy. "I asked if it would be too forward of me to say that you are very beautiful."  
She shook her head. "C--can I kiss you?"  
His smile widened. "Well, that's one way to answer that question," he chuckled, his hands in his pockets.  
"I know I'm renting you space and I don't want this to be weir--" She started to go into a whole speech about partnerships and professionalism, but it was squashed between their lips. He kissed her deeply, his nimble fingers ghosting along her arms, tickling them into gooseflesh. He broke the kiss to rest his forehead on hers.  
"You are a wonder," he breathed.  
She pulled away, looking at him full-on in the moonlight. She had been so afraid to open herself up to love again, but this man had just stepped right in and led her there by the hand. Perhaps it would all crumble tomorrow, but for Robin, the moment was all that mattered: it was real, and she was not done kissing him.  
If their first kiss had been deep and soul-shaking, this one took a timbre all its own. She felt flushed and overheated, but she was desperate the chase the feeling wherever it led.  
Later, she would smile to herself whenever she thought of that night. It was a reckless thing to do, but Stardew Valley was perhaps a reckless place, what with the falling meteorites and strangers showing up, looking for places to conduct mad science experiments and discombobulated ladies to kiss. But the valley was also a place where things just sort of fell into cosmic order. And Maru's big, dazzling smile would always be a reminder that recklessness can be cosmically beautiful.


	3. Evelyn and George

Though Pelican Town had no cotillions or fancy dress balls, the annual Flower Dance was seen as every teenager’s official announcement that they were ready to begin a life of their own. And for seventeen-year-old Evelyn Carter, that simply could not be more true. She was ready to step out from under her parents’ thumb and finally live on her own terms. She wanted a kitchen she could use at any hour of the day, a man who would stand beside her through anything and a few little ones running underfoot–eventually, anyway.  
When she arrived, she stood beside her best friend and sipped some lemonade, trying not to let her nerves carry her away. Her white dress felt stiff and hot in the sun, but she tried to look pleasant and sweet and ready to start courting.  
It was no surprise when Walt asked Pearlene to dance, and it made sense when Tall Mary and Henry paired off. William spent a long time convincing Short Mary to dance with him, but she brilliantly brokered a deal for her best friend, Catherine, to dance with his best friend, Marty.  
That made the pool of eligible gentlemen a lot smaller.  
She felt her cheeks go red when he friend took a young man's hand and walked away. Evelyn hadn’t considered that no one at all might ask her to dance! She was a bit tall, but her chestnut hair was long and well-kept, she had beautiful eyes and everyone knew that her cooking was great. Sure, her feet were a little big, and her knees a little knobby, but–  
“May I have this dance?”  
Evelyn looked up from her panicked distraction to see George Mullner looking awfully awkward in front of her. She didn’t know George very well. They stopped and spoke occasionally on the street, mostly for her to ask how his day was going or how his grandpap’s health was faring. But they were nearly the same age and while he wasn’t a great conversationalist, he certainly seemed nice enough. It helped that he had a wide jaw and a distinctive brow, though his nose was a bit big. Once, he had come over and fixed her family's furnace, so she knew he was handy and polite to her folks.  
Oh, it wasn’t like they were getting married that minute, Evelyn realized. What would it hurt to take the lad for a spin around the dance floor–-such as it was?  
“It would be my delight,” she replied with a smile.  
The youths lined up and did their dance. Evelyn’s heart pounded throughout, but she found herself not caring if she missed some of the footwork; what mattered was, she was telling the whole valley that she was a woman coming in her own. George, for his part, kept good time and wore a little smile that went from the corners of his mouth to the tips of his eyebrows.  
It was a tradition that all of the Flower Dance couples would sneak away from the festival to steal some quiet moments together in Cindersap Forest. And while she wasn’t sure she had much to say to George on a walk, she was certain she wouldn’t be bucking convention and seeming like a fuddy-dud.  
They walked toward the lake, he with his arms folded behind him, she with her hands nervously twisting in front of her. What did the young couples do when they snuck off? Surely he didn’t expect her to kiss him?  
He broke the silence between them. “Evelyn, I'm real glad you agreed to dance with me. I was worried that you had found some other lad to court."  
"Well, no--" She blinked, thinking. At length, a realization hit her. "Do you mean to court me?"  
He scratched the back of his neck, chuckling. "Well, that's pretty much what I'm up to, if it's alright with you."  
Evelyn turned her head to one side and tangled her fingers in her long braid, as if to consider it. "What are your plans?"  
He stopped, looking serious. "I'm just a coal miner like my pap, but it's honest work and I make a decent wage," he explained. "Really, my life would be full if I had a wife, a house of my own and a youngin' to carry my name."  
Evelyn smiled. "And you're thinkin' about having all that with me?"  
"Well, I did have your cookies at the Feast of the Winter Star!"  
She clapped with delight. "They're my own recipe!" She grinned to herself. She studied him a moment before asking, "Why else?"  
He went red in the cheeks, but he didn't move his eyes from hers. "I'm not a romantic, Evelyn. I'm not a man of pretty words--heck, I'm not a man of words of any kind," he joked. "But I could love you. We could build a house together once I've saved up a bit of money, then make a home of it. I know from your kindness and your cookies that you'll make a good momma someday. And I think I'd like to be there, every step of the way."  
"Well," Evelyn drawled, feeling misty and flushed. "Lets go down to the dock so I can try out your kisses and talk your ear off about what kind of wallpaper I want!" 


End file.
